star-shine, snow-shine
by images-in-words
Summary: It's Rachel's birthday, senior year, and she's really looking forward to having one last birthday party with all of her friends from Glee Club. Unfortunately, a massive snow storm ruins her plans, so she's home alone on her birthday. Then Brittany shows up, and everything changes. (AU)


**star-shine, snow-shine**

* * *

Rachel Berry loved the holiday season for many reasons, not least because she considered her birthday a holiday right along with Thanksgiving and Chanukah, if she were being completely honest. She particularly loved the fact that it came in mid-December, right between Tofurkey Day (as she and her one vegan dad called Thanksgiving) and the Festival of Lights most years.

She hadn't always loved celebrating her birthday, though, as far too many of her birthday parties in the past had been strictly family affairs spent only with her loving but worried dads. She'd grown up an admittedly loud and intense, but also highly intelligent and wildly talented girl whose penchant for expressing her opinions loudly and in verbose paragraphs, and her strident refusal to change a single thing about herself that her peers claimed to hate, from her unusual taste in clothing to her tendency to break out in song at lunch and in recess, had made deeply unpopular, a social pariah, alone and friendless. For in the sea of mindless devotion to conformity that was the American public school system, Rachel was an island of individuality, that rarest of things among teenagers: a person who was completely herself, and steadfastly unwilling to apologize for being so.

That had all changed in her freshman year of high school, when she'd joined William McKinley High School's glee club – also known as 'show choir' - nicknamed the New Directions. They were a little group of misfits, outcasts and oddballs with big voices and bigger dreams - just like her, she'd been thrilled to find – and they had come together to form an unlikely band of friends that quickly became a happy, if sometimes contentious and slightly dysfunctional family. They were united by a love of musical performance, singing and dancing, bonding as a team through competitions with other schools' show choirs and the shared trials and tribulations of being different in a place that demanded sameness above all else. No other club in the school had such a unique and diverse membership, because no other group was as open and accepting.

And so it was that the New Directions included students of all shapes, sizes, colors, economic statuses, races, ethnicities and religious persuasions. Within their ranks, there were no boundaries, no divisions, no walls, no barriers. The choir room and the auditorium, where they met and rehearsed daily, were their safe spaces, havens where they were free to be exactly who they were, without masks, without apologies. Disabled, heavy-set, introverted, neurotic, angry, secretive, black, white, Asian, gay, straight – none of that mattered in their world, as it did outside. All that mattered was whether you had a song to sing and the voice to express it.

For three years, the New Directions had at times loved and hated, won and lost, fought and made up, hooked up and broken up. And in that time, they had grown in ways they could not have possibly imagined when they had first come together.

It was their senior year, the last that the core group of them would be together before moving on to college and going their separate ways. Rachel found this to be a bittersweet reality. On the one hand, she was excited and looking forward to achieving her dream of living in New York City and going to one of its finest performance art schools, on a full scholarship. Yet on the other hand, she wanted her group of friends to stay together always. She couldn't bear the thought of missing them as intensely as she knew she was bound to do.

 _Growing up,_ her best friend Quinn had once said, _is about losing things._

She was intelligent enough to recognize the indisputable truth of those words, but still not prepared to lose the most wonderful, amazing group of friends she could possibly have imagined for herself back in those lonely years. So many of their dreams had come true, both as a group and as individuals, and there were still so many still waiting out there in the world to be claimed.

And so this was her last birthday as a high schooler. At this time next year, she would be celebrating as a full-fledged matriculating college student, entering the final stages of preparation for adulthood and the musical theater stardom she knew would be hers in the future. She had persuaded her fathers that it was perfectly all right for them to go out of town on an unfortunately timed but vitally necessary business trip, assuring them that she would be fine on her own, because after all, she wasn't _really_ alone, not anymore. No, the Glee Club would be there for her, and several of her fellow Glee Clubbers' parents, like Quinn's mother Judy, who regarded Rachel as something of a second daughter, or Finn's mom Carole and Kurt's father Burt, who had married last year and in so doing created an extraordinary blended family. They were all going to be together, enjoying a lovely – and, she insisted, alcohol-free – birthday party for her, and it was going to be wonderful and special and just _perfect._

Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas.

Rachel had started getting nervous at the beginning of the week, when both the local news and the Weather Channel had started reporting ominously about the possibility of a major snow event, which, if the computer tracking models were correct, would hit Lima right on her birthday at the end of the week. She never let her worry show in school, however, in true Rachel Berry fashion, because she knew that the Broadway Gods would never let her down so terribly. Her friends were never anything less than positive and encouraging, as she'd known they would be – even Santana, somewhat uncharacteristically, what with her perpetually surly attitude and generally annoyed-at-life demeanor, had told her not to worry, that they would all be there to watch her blow out the candles on her cake with one of her patented show-stopping high notes. Tina assured her that said cake, made at her mother's popular bakery and designed by Kurt (of course), would be completely vegan and sinfully delicious, while Sam, Mike and Artie had promised their skills at impressions, dancing and DJ-ing were going to rock the house.

(Mercedes and Quinn hadn't been able to roll their eyes hard enough at that. Rachel couldn't keep from laughing, though she felt badly afterward.)

For their part, Finn and Puck pledged, respectively, to bring a video game system and _not_ to bring any alcohol, as she couldn't disrespect her fathers and their trust in her by encouraging illegal and dangerous behavior in their house. And Lauren, the most ferocious female wrestler ever to perform on a show choir stage, even vowed to use her formidable fighting skills to keep unwanted, uninvited guests like, say, Jacob Ben Israel, Rick "the Stick" Nelson or Azimio Adams from bringing negative vibes or a posse of meat-headed goons to crash the party.

And Brittany? Dear, sweet Brittany? She'd said simply that her cat would do a rain dance that would turn the threatened snow into nothing more than a cold shower.

Alas, it appeared that the loopy blonde cheerleader with the adorable smile and beautiful blue eyes had significantly overestimated her cat's weather-influencing powers.

Still, Rachel could only laugh at the memory now as she watched the snow pelting down from the heavens, coating every yard, car and roof in a coating of frosty white. It was eerily beautiful, the way the snow seemed to glow in the illumination of the street lamps, painting the scene in a pale halo of light. She was sad and bitterly disappointed, reading the text messages from her friends, one after the other, saying how sorry they were, but it was just too dangerous to go out in this weather, with the blustering wind and below-freezing cold. But she understood that it wasn't personal, and that the weather was out of her control, as her younger self perhaps wouldn't have. _That_ Rachel, she realized, probably would have chosen to take the opportunity to rail against fate and the duplicity of people who claimed to care for her, but were really just using the excuse of bad weather to ditch her in favor of doing something, _anything_ else, simply to avoid her. Self-pity was something she had left behind a long time ago, and she was a far better person for it.

Still, it would have been nice not to be alone on a night like this. She listened to the wind howling outside, blustering hard enough to rattle the large front window in its frame, and hugged herself against an imagined chill, even though it was a toasty seventy-two degrees in the living room. The local news had pre-empted regular network programming to report on the storm, which one breathless reporter described as "historical" as she idly watched. She shivered again and considered turning the thermostat up a degree or two even though her fathers had told her not to touch it, being very environmentally conscious and thus quite scrupulous regarding their family's energy usage.

In the days before Glee Club, on nights like this, she would have gone down to the entertainment room, turned on her karaoke machine, and sang her heart out to exorcise her blues. But now, singing alone didn't hold the same appeal. Now, she wanted more than anything else to sing with her friends. After all, the sky was always much more beautiful with more than one star shining in it.

So instead she dragged herself up from the couch and into the kitchen to make herself a steaming hot cup of tea. She had bought both regular and vegan hot chocolate mix earlier in the week with the intention of making it for the party, thinking how nice it would be for all of them to sit with cups of hot chocolate, talking and singing and reminiscing; now the unopened boxes seemed to mock her from their place on the counter. Frowning, she stuck her tongue out at them and stuffed them into the bottom shelf in the cupboard, which was as high as she could reach without the aid of a step stool.

As the tea bag steeped in the hot water, she heard a noise outside and her heart nearly stopped. What could that possibly be? No one in their right mind would be out in this weather. Maybe it was someone's dog? Still, who would let even their dog out in the midst of such a massive storm? She heard it again, louder this time.

It sounded like...knocking? She crept slowly toward the front door, suddenly feeling a little frightened and uncertain. Perhaps her father Leroy had called one of his friends on the Lima police force and asked him to check on her? That was _so_ the kind of thing her Daddy would do. She smiled at the thought. He had a major hug coming to him when he got home.

She heard the sound again, still louder and more insistent, and now she was sure of what it was. Impossibly, someone was knocking on the front door!

Grabbing the little collapsible step stool from its place beside the refrigerator, and then taking out the baseball bat her fathers kept in the hallway closet - a young woman alone in a big house could never be too careful, her dads had always said - she approached the door with trepidation. She stepped onto the stool, stood on her tip-toes, peered through the peephole, and gasped at what she saw.

 _Brittany - ?!_

Hurriedly, she dropped the bat, hopped off the stool and slid the chain free of the first lock, then turned the bolt lock to enable herself to open the door.

There stood Brittany S. Pierce, wearing what had to be the largest, most heavily padded winter jacket she had ever seen, with equally heavy gloves and a furry, ear-flapped hat. A bright yellow scarf was wrapped around the lower part of her face, leaving only her brilliant blue eyes and a strip of reddened skin visible to Rachel's astonished gaze. In one of her gloved hands, she carried a large duffel bag, filled with what, Rachel couldn't even imagine.

In a muffled but still cheerful voice, her mouth covered by the scarf, Brittany said, "Hi, Rachel. Happy birthday!"

Still in a state of semi-shock, Rachel looked her friend up and down and all she could say in reply was, "Brittany? Are those... _snow shoes_ on your feet?"

"Yup, sure are. My dad goes on ski trips all the time," she answered with a shrug and a bright smile. "He said they'd make it way easier for me to walk in all this snow. He was right, too!"

Rachel shook her head. "Come in, come in – _goodness_ , it's cold out there!" she said, still not quite believing the Arctic vision before her. Brittany's coat and hat were covered with snow, which she brushed off with her gloved hands to fall wetly to the carpet.

"I can't – I can't believe you're – Brittany, what are you _doing_ here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, of course, but – again, I have to ask you, what are you _doing_ here?" Rachel sputtered in complete disbelief. How had the girl - "Did you say you...you _walked_ here?"

"Well, _yeah_. This is totally _not_ driving weather, you know." Brittany shrugged again, as though what she had done wasn't at all unusual or dangerous.

"Brittany!" Rachel stamped her foot as the other girl removed her hat, causing a small avalanche, then unzipping her coat to reveal another, lighter coat beneath, and unzipping that to reveal a jacket under it. "You – you could have fallen somewhere, been unable to get back up with all those layers of clothing, and – and gotten covered with snow and _frozen to death!"_

"Could have. Didn't." Brittany gave her one of those smiles that made it impossible for anyone to ever be mad at her for longer than ten seconds, and her heart fluttered a little bit. "Besides, it's your birthday, Rachel, and I promised you that I wouldn't miss it for _anything_. And I'm mad at Lord Tubbington for messing up his rain dance. It totally would have worked if he hadn't kept chasing his tail in the middle of it. So I'm sorry about that."

Sighing, then returning Brittany's infectious grin – because it really was impossible not to smile back when Brittany smiled at you - Rachel took the girl's hat, coats, scarf and gloves into the bathroom, then removed a few hangers from the hall closet and returned to the bathroom to hang them up so that they would dry. When she returned, she saw that Brittany was wearing a heavy, but loose white sweater and a pair of tight blue pants with white polka dots. Her feet were covered by a pair of warm, furry boots, and tied to them were the large snow shoes, which looked to Rachel like a pair of oversized tennis rackets.

(It was a lovely outfit, Rachel thought – if you ignored her footwear.)

"Let's go into the living room and get all that stuff off your feet," Rachel directed. "Which, I imagine, must be hurting from the bitter cold and all that walking in the deep snow. There must be at least a foot of it out there!"

Brittany had pulled her cell phone out of one of her jacket pockets before Rachel had hung all her stuff up, and she looked up from the screen at Rachel's exclamation.

"A foot and a half, according to my weather app," she said. "Hold on, I gotta text my parents to let them know that I made it here all right."

Rachel heard the beeping sound of on-screen keys being tapped and muted the television with the remote control she'd left on the coffee table as Brittany plopped down into one of the two comfortable recliners that sat at each end of the couch.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. I'm here! Yes, Operation Snowy Owl is a success! Thanks for letting me borrow the snow shoes, Dad. I promise I'll take good care of them. What? Yes, of course I'll tell her." Rachel saw Brittany roll her eyes and point to the phone, mouthing _parents,_ and had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "Okay, bye guys. Stay warm. I love you!"

Rachel enjoyed the ease with which Brittany had spoken with her parents; it reminded her of the loving relationship she enjoyed with her fathers. She knelt down in front of the other girl and began untying the snow shoes, the laces of which had warmed up enough now for her to touch without feeling as though she was risking frostbite by doing so.

"That was a very sweet conversation, Brittany," she said absently as she worked the knots out of the leathery laces. "You seem to have a very good relationship with your mom and dad."

"Yeah, my parents are pretty cool. Oh, and they wish you a very happy birthday. They knew I was super sad about this stupid weather and how I was missing your party because of it, so they helped me find a way not to miss it," Brittany replied, tugging at one of the fingerless gloves she still wore. "Since, you know, Lord Tubbington was no help. I've revoked his catnip privileges for the weekend as punishment, by the way."

Rachel gasped at this. Not wanting to be the reason for anyone's suffering or unhappiness, even that of an obese feline, she felt the need to protest. "Oh, no, Brittany – I'm sure he didn't mean to mess up the dance. In fact, I believe I've read that rain dances actually don't work at this time of year regardless. The best you can hope for is sleet, really."

"Really?" Brittany asked, her face brightening, the perturbed expression she had worn a moment ago gone completely. "Well, then let me send him a text and let him know that I officially revoke my earlier revoking. He always finds the catnip anyway, no matter where I hide it, so it wasn't actually much of a punishment."

This time, Rachel couldn't help chuckling as she set the snow shoes aside and lifted Brittany's right foot to pull the boot off of it, then did the same with her left foot, leaving her in a pair of bright pink woolen socks. _Brittany is truly one of a kind,_ she thought. Looking at the girl's face in the soft light of the room, she was struck by her unique beauty, taking in the cat-like shape of her eyes, the slight pout of her lips, the paleness of her fair skin.

 _She's so pretty,_ Rachel sighed internally. Then she mentally slapped herself. _Not that she'd be interested in me. After all, she's been with Artie for some time now, and they seem happy together._

"Thank you for coming, Brittany, although I wish it hadn't been at such great risk to your health and safety," she said, sincerely touched by the tremendous effort Brittany had made in getting all the way to her house. After all, it wasn't as if the girl lived just around the corner. It was a testament to Brittany's remarkable stamina and strength that she had succeeded where no one else Rachel knew – except perhaps for Britt and Santana's (more than) slightly insane cheerleading coach, Sue Sylvester – would have even thought to attempt such a Herculean feat.

The thought of Santana made a not entirely welcome thought pop into Rachel's head as she sat herself down on the couch. She didn't want to ask, but she felt it was only polite, so she cleared her throat and softly inquired, "Don't you have to call or text Artie as well? Won't he be worried about you and want to know you're okay?"

"No," Brittany said. "Artie and I...we're not together anymore." Her voice was quiet, but Rachel couldn't detect the sadness she'd expected to hear in it.

Rachel hoped the concern in her voice masked the surprise she felt at hearing this completely unexpected piece of news. She took one of Brittany's hands in her own, enjoying the warmth of it, as she gently asked, "What...what happened, sweetie?"

Brittany sighed, fidgeting with her fingerless gloves again. Clearly, she was reluctant to talk about it, but Rachel knew that it would make her feel better if she did.

"I don't want to spoil your birthday by talking about sad stuff, Rachel," the girl protested weakly. "Birthdays are about happiness and good times."

"That they are, Britt, but they're also a celebration of friendship – and since you're the only friend I have here tonight, we have to celebrate the best we can. And sometimes, we can't celebrate until we get sad stuff out of the way."

Brittany smiled. "You're right. I never thought about it like that. You're, like, really smart, Rachel."

Ducking her head, Rachel tried to hide how pleased she was at the cheerleader's words of praise. "Thank you, Brittany. Now, tell me what happened. You know I won't say anything about this to anyone -"

"Not even Kurt and Mercedes?"

" _Especially_ not to Kurt and Mercedes," Rachel assured. She loved those two with all her heart, but she also knew that those two gossip lovers would never be able to keep information like this to themselves, and that would inevitably bring the wrath of Santana down upon all of them, because her best friend's life was not for public consumption unless she gave her express permission - which was truly not something anyone in his or her right mind wished to invite.

"Okay. Well, you know how Artie's always, like, playing video games with Puck and Finn and Mike and Sam? I try really hard just to get his attention, but lately it's been harder and harder to do. Everything is _Call of Duty_ this and _Halo_ that, like, 24/7, especially on weekends. And, like, the other day, I tried and I tried to get him to just spend time with me, you know, like go to the park and feed the ducks, but he said no, because he never wants to do anything _I_ want to do. And that's what I told him. He just looked at me and said _whatever,_ like what I wanted just didn't matter. So I said I couldn't be with him anymore because all it does is make me sad."

She paused, tears filling her eyes, spilling down her cheeks, and Rachel knew there was something more. Something that Brittany didn't want to say. Rachel had an idea of what it could be, but to even contemplate it was... _no. Oh, no._ Even an insensitive ass like Artie wouldn't dare – would he? In a heated moment, a person could say anything, but no one who knew the Eleventh Commandment of McKinley High School would, even then, dare to even _think -_

"Britt? What...what else did he say?"

The girl hugged herself, the pain of the memory so clearly etched upon her face. But then, in a show of remarkable emotional strength and resiliency, she reached up with a semi-gloved hand, wiped away her tears and swallowed her pain and hurt to answer in a clear, steady voice.

"He...he called me _stupid._ Said I was just a stupid girl and that I should just go hang out with another stupid girl and leave him alone. I know he didn't really mean to say it, he was just all mad that I wasn't going to let him have his way, but still – it really hurt, you know? 'Cause he never, ever called me that. So I told him that was it. We were over. And then I started thinking, like _really_ thinking, in the way that always makes my head hurt and my stomach feel all funny."

Rachel tamped down the burning rage that had kindled within her at the knowledge that Artie had used the one word that _everybody_ knew never to use in reference to Brittany. She was a complete pacifist, opposed to violence in any way, shape or form, yet she now felt an acute desire to find Artie and slap him, _hard,_ across the face.

While she had been prepared to hear what Brittany had said, she was completely unprepared to hear what the girl said next.

"And I realized...I realized that I'd just rather be with someone who's nice and sweet and likes to spend time with me, without me having to beg them to do it. Someone like...like _you_."

Rachel squeaked in shock, so taken by surprise that she nearly fell out of her seat. Brittany's smile of amusement reached her eyes even as Rachel's naturally large and expressive eyes widened to an almost comical degree.

" _Me?_ You...are you serious? You want to be with – with _me?_ "

"Careful, Rachel. We don't want your eyes to pop out of your head. Who knows where they might roll off to? I definitely wouldn't want to try explaining how or why that happened to your dads, either."

Rachel rose from the couch, feeling as though her equilibrium had been seriously disturbed. Her heart raced. She gazed intently at Brittany's open, guileless face, saw the complete honesty there. If there was anything Rachel knew about Brittany – that _everyone_ knew - it was that she simply couldn't lie. About anything. Ever. It was as though the girl was absolutely incapable of being anything but one hundred per cent truthful.

"Rachel? Did I break you?" she asked, distress clouding those lovely ice-blue eyes. "Please say something, even if it's just to tell me I'm silly for thinking you might want to be with me...you know... _that way_ too."

This brought Rachel out of her own head to focus on the beautiful girl before her. No one could stand to see Brittany be upset; it was like watching a puppy get kicked. It was universally agreed by everyone in the Glee Club – by the populace of McKinley in general, really – that the one thing no one should _ever_ do was to hurt Brittany in any way. Not only because it would bring down the wrath of her best friend Santana, let alone Santana's girlfriend Quinn - who was equally scary but in an entirely different way - but because the bubbly blonde Cheerio was like a warm ray of sunshine that somehow always found its way through the often dark clouds that seemed to perpetually hang over the school.

"Silly? Oh, no, _no,_ Brittany. You're not silly at all, not the least bit – especially not for thinking _that way_ about me. The truth is -" Rachel sighed. She had kept her feelings secret for so long, and while she was actually thrilled to hear the words that Brittany had said, this was not the way she had always imagined having this conversation. "The _truth,_ Britt, is that I've thought about you that way too. For a long time now."

Brittany's expression shifted instantly from one of distress to one of hope. Rachel couldn't help but smile. It was truly adorable, the way the girl's emotions came to the surface so quickly and easily.

Then she sighed again, feeling a sudden rush of nerves knocking her off balance once again. It was not a feeling to which she was accustomed. Yet Rachel Berry had never been one to let anything keep her from saying what she needed to say. The words began to come in a rush, and she let them burst forth. "But you were with Artie, and he's my friend, and I could never hurt him by trying to come between the two of you, even though I knew he wasn't ever going to be the kind of partner you need and deserve, and -"

"So you like me?" Brittany interrupted. "Like, really, like _like_ me?"

The girl sprang up and out of her chair with a speed Rachel would not have believed humanly possible, had she not just witnessed it, and engulfed the smaller girl in a fierce, tight hug, picking her up off the floor and spinning her around in her arms, laughing all the while.

Rachel loved it, even as she shrieked, "Brittany! Put me down!"

Gently, the Cheerio lowered her to the ground without releasing her from the embrace. Their faces were so close together, both flushed with heat over the proximity of their bodies to one another. Brittany rubbed her nose against Rachel's, smiling.

"Eskimo kiss," she murmured, a shy but happy smile lighting up her face.

Rachel returned the smile. "Very appropriate."

She raised her head to meet the taller girl's eyes, which were literally shining with happiness, and then, closing her own, she brought their lips together in a soft, sweet kiss.

The kiss lengthened and deepened, and soon both girls' heads were spinning in a rush of excitement. Hands wandered, explored beneath clothing, and as the heat between them continued to build, Brittany suddenly pulled away, and Rachel was left panting and more than a little frustrated.

"Brittany? What – what's wrong? Did I do something? I'm sorry, I just -" She looked down at the floor, embarrassed, fighting to keep sudden tears at bay. "I wanted...I wanted you too much. It's just – suddenly I've got all these feelings, all at once. I didn't mean to – I mean, I couldn't -"

She felt Brittany's finger beneath her chin, gently pushing so that her head tilted upward once again. "Ssh, no. _You_ didn't do anything wrong at all, Rachel. _I_ was about to, I think. And that – I mean, what I wanted to do...it would have been _amazing,_ but it's not time yet. We're brand new. We need to learn who we really are to each other before we go any further with the sexy stuff. Is...is that okay?"

Rachel exhaled a great sigh of relief, happy to know she hadn't messed up this new relationship almost before it had even begun.

"Of course it's okay, Brittany. I really, really like you, and I don't ever want to do something you don't want or don't feel ready to do."

Chuckling, Brittany replied, "Oh, no, Rachel. I'm _more_ than ready to have sexy times with you. Believe me, I've thought about that, like, a _lot_. But I don't think _you're_ ready for that, not yet. Not the full-on kind of sexy times. Some kissing, some touching, some semi-nakedness, but not the whole cat and kaboodle. We've got to work up to it. I want you to be able to handle it when the time comes, because I promise you, it's going to be a wild ride."

Cat _and kaboodle?_ Rachel thought. _God, this girl is just_ too _adorable._ And then she thought, _Oh my god. I could really_ love _her, one day soon._ The idea made her entire body tingle and her knees wobble just a little bit.

"Maybe not," she said, addressing Brittany's point. "I mean, you might be right. I may not be ready for... _everything..._ just yet. But I can't imagine anyone with whom I'd rather share that than you, Britt." She smiled brightly as she stepped back into the taller girl's personal space to wrap her arms around her neck and gaze up at her from that intimate distance.

"In the meantime, though...could we maybe go upstairs to my room and kiss some more? And by _more_ , I mean a lot. Maybe even the rest of the night."

"See, that's why you're the captain of the Glee Club, Rachel. You always come up with the most excellent ideas."

After Rachel made sure that the front door was securely locked and that the house's alarm system was activated, she turned out the lights and led Brittany by the hand upstairs to her bedroom and then flicked on the light. Brittany had never been there before, but she was very familiar with it from watching all of Rachel's videos on MySpace and YouTube. It was warm and comfortable, with pink and white walls and Broadway show posters and pictures of famous actresses hung up everywhere. She sat on the bed while Rachel stood in the center of the room with her tongue peeking out cutely from the corner of her mouth, as it always did whenever she was concentrating on a thought. Then her face brightened, again as it always did whenever she had gotten an idea and decided that it was a good one.

"Wait right here, sweetie. Don't move. I just need to get a couple of things to set the proper mood. This is a momentous occasion, and the atmosphere needs to be perfect for it," she said, and Brittany could only nod and say, "Okay," because she truly had no idea what Rachel was talking about. The atmosphere was just fine, despite the holes in the ozone layer caused by everyone's overuse of hair spray back in the 80s. Because, like, they were still breathing, right?

Before she could think any more about it, Rachel returned with an arm full of candles and a box of matches.

"I know it's kind of cliché, but I can't help but feel that this occasion deserves candlelight and some soft music. It's our first night together as a couple, and that is a truly special thing," Rachel explained as she flitted about the room placing candles on reliable surfaces away from anything flammable, lighting each one after setting it down. Brittany watched with amusement, thinking that Rachel was just way too cute. It took an incredible amount of self-restraint for her _not_ to get up, grab the girl, and kiss her absolutely senseless.

"Now then," Rachel said when she was finally satisfied with the way she'd arranged the candles. "I'm going to turn off the lights, and -"

The lights went out, even though Rachel hadn't touched the switch. Thankfully, they were not suddenly plunged into complete darkness, thanks to the candles she had just lit.

"Ooh, that's spooky, Rachel. Did you just do that with your mind?"

"Um, no. I fear that the storm outside has finally had an ill effect on our power lines. Fortunately, we have flashlights and more candles should we need them in the event an emergency arises, and my cell phone is fully charged."

"Good. Now will you come over here and kiss me already? I've been dying for the last fifteen minutes," Brittany said, and Rachel had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the girl's exaggerated pout.

"Of course. And gladly."

And with that, Rachel climbed onto her bed and lay down next to Brittany. She reached a hand up to caress the girl's cheek, trying to communicate everything she was feeling with that simple touch, and then they were lost in the pleasure of their lips meeting once again.

The next morning, Rachel awoke first, feeling remarkably well-rested despite the relative lack of sleep she'd gotten due to the... _activity_ of the previous night. She decided that she could skip her morning routine just this once, choosing instead to enjoy the feeling of waking up next to her new – and quite amazing - girlfriend. She blushed as she recalled how their intense make-out session had brought her to a place, physically speaking, she had never visited without touching being involved. It was incredible – absolutely mind-blowing, really - and she wouldn't have believed it possible if she hadn't experienced it. Yes, Brittany was just _that_ good.

Rachel put on a pair of sweats and a long-sleeved WMHS t-shirt, and went downstairs to let Britt sleep while she got started on making breakfast for the two of them. Flipping on the kitchen light, she was pleased to find that whatever problem there had been with the power had been fixed overnight. Humming softly to herself, she rummaged through the refrigerator when suddenly there came a loud knock on the door, and then a familiar voice calling through it.

"Hey hobbit, let us in before we all freeze to death out here. We wants us some warmth, and we want it _now!"_

" _Santana!"_ came another familiar, much-loved voice, low and breathy and just a little bit tremulous. "Stop yelling. It's still early, and Rachel has neighbors."

Rachel had to laugh as she hurried over to the door.

When she opened it, she was startled to find not only Santana Lopez and Quinn Fabray standing before her in full winter outfits, but behind them were Sam Evans and Noah "Puck" Puckerman, shoveling the heavy snow from her sidewalk, having already cleared the pathway to her front steps.

"You guys! What are you doing here?" she said as she ushered Santana and Quinn inside, then waved to Sam and Puck, receiving smiles and waves back.

"What do you mean, what are we doing here? It's your birthday – or at least it _was –_ and we missed out on your party because of this crap weather," Santana explained as she helped Quinn out of her heavy coat, handing it to Rachel along with the girl's hat, scarf and gloves. Quinn then did the same for Santana, and the petite singer found herself weighed down with more clothing than she could carry, almost.

Fortunately, Brittany had been awakened by the sound of Santana's voice, and when she saw Rachel staggering under the weight of all that heavy clothing, she swiftly bounded down the stairs to relieve her of the burden, brightly greeting the two just-arrived Cheerios with a happy "Hi, guys!" as she took it all into the bathroom.

Rachel waited a beat, then took several more hangers out of the hall closet and handed them over to Brittany when she returned with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Um, yeah. Forgot those. Thanks, honey!" she said, then rewarded Rachel by pressing a kiss to her cheek before returning to the bathroom to hang everything up.

Quinn's eyebrow shot up at this. "Rachel? Why is Brittany here, and apparently sleeping in your bed? And why is she calling you _honey?"_

"Yeah, short stack," Santana said, smirking because _of course_ she had long known about Brittany's feelings for Rachel, being Brittany's best friend and all. "Since when are you on a pet name basis with our Britt-Britt?"

Rachel blushed. "Um...since last night. Apparently she and Artie are no longer together, and now...well, now she's my girlfriend. As I am hers."

Puck and Sam finally joined them inside, with Sam closing the door behind them. They both stamped their boots to rid them of snow as first Quinn and then Santana hugged Rachel, saying "Congratulations!" and "About time, _mi hermosa."_ The boys looked on in confusion until Rachel was no longer being hugged, and she said simply, "Brittany and I are now together in an exclusive and mutually agreed upon relationship, and I'll thank you, Puck, to keep any lascivious thoughts you may have about it to yourself. Oh, and thank you both for all the shoveling. My fathers will be very happy that they didn't have to do it when they get home later tonight."

Brittany returned as they were all moving into the living room, still abuzz with happy, congratulatory conversation and happy birthday wishes.

"So you told them?" Brittany asked Rachel, and they could all see that the two were fairly glowing with happiness. The tall blonde slipped her hand into Rachel's while their friends got settled, a gesture the ever-observant Quinn and Santana didn't fail to catch.

Rachel turned to her girlfriend and answered softly, "Yes, I did. I hope you don't mind. Did you want to do it together?"

"No, that's fine," Brittany said simply. "I'm so happy, you guys!" She planted a chaste kiss on the shorter girl's lips to let her know that really, she wasn't mad at all, and Santana smiled a genuine smile at the sight. She knew that Rachel would learn the more of the subtleties of Brittany's quirky but adorable personality in time. In the meantime, she had to admit that the two made a ridiculously cute couple. A quick look and a non-verbal conversation with Quinn confirmed that her girlfriend was in complete agreement about that.

"Congratulations, you two," Sam said cheerily, although inside he was more than a little disappointed. He had hoped he might have a shot with Brittany after she finally realized what a lousy boyfriend Artie was. Oh, well. If anyone was worthy of Britt's affections besides him, he thought, it was Rachel. After all, the girl had always helped her with her homework, vocal lessons and anything else she needed.

"Yeah, my little Jew princess!" Puck exclaimed, extending his fist for Rachel to bump, which she did with a giggle. She'd never understand the significance the gesture held for the Mohawk-headed boy, but if it made him happy, she was glad to do it. And then, more seriously, he said, "You two take care of each other, okay? Just make each other happy."

"We will, Noah. I assure you," Rachel responded, touched by the sincerity in her friend's face and voice. "Thank you all. How did you get here, anyway?"

"I convinced my dad to let me take our SUV because it's four wheel drive," Sam answered, "and because it's more than roomy enough for all of us. Quinn and Santana wanted to take one of their cars and meet me and Puck here, but it's still a little too dicey out on the roads for ordinary vehicles."

Suddenly Rachel's phone beeped from where she'd left it on the coffee table last night, indicating a new text message had just come in. Then it beeped again, and again, and again, and they all laughed at the repeated sounds and the look of amazement on Rachel's face as more and more messages came in. She stuck her tongue out at her friends, who just laughed more, and then she turned her attention to the numerous new messages she'd just received.

The first was from Tina, the next from Kurt, then Mercedes, Finn, Lauren, Blaine, Sugar, Mike, and even Rory and Joe. Rachel's heart felt so full as she read each message, letting her know how much her friends all loved and cared for her, and that they would all be arriving soon with everything they had bought and made for the party.

 _No sir,_ Kurt had written. _The New Directions don't let silly things like a little bad weather keep them from celebrating one of their own! See you soon honey. Xoxo_

And soon enough, the doorbell was ringing, and there was Tina with the cake her mother had baked for her, with Mike, Kurt and Blaine helping her to carry it carefully into the house to rest it on the kitchen table. Finn arrived soon after in his stepfather Burt's truck, greeting everyone with the lopsided half-smile that always let them know when he was really happy. Mercedes, Sugar, Rory and Joe all arrived next, thanks to Sugar's personal limousine driver having taken a van instead of the usual town car, and it took the poor man, along with Rory and Joe, several trips back and forth from said van to bring in all the presents, games, food and other items that Sugar and the others had brought with them.

(Brittany had told Santana about what Artie had said about her, which in turn had prompted a rather heated phone confrontation between her and the wheelchair-bound boy, with Quinn getting her licks in as well. Suffice to say that he was informed in no uncertain terms that it would take some time before he would again be welcome at gatherings like this.)

Sugar kissed both Rachel and Brittany on the cheek as Rachel was swarmed by the rest with hugs, belated birthday wishes, and apologies for not having been able to come over the night before. She truly didn't mind. As the party got into full swing, with all their friends all talking, laughing, eating, and - of course - singing together, she found herself sitting on the couch on Brittany's lap being fed vegan chocolate birthday cake, and she had to say that even a day later, this was by far the best birthday she'd ever had.

* * *

 **A/N: I wanted to write something light and sweet for the upcoming winter, even though it's still only autumn and all the leaves aren't even off the trees yet, and this is what came out. I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to review, if you're so inclined. And, as always, I don't own _Glee -_ but if I did, it would still be on the air and on another network.**


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